


you know i dreamed about you

by Trotter



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Actor!DK, Alternate Universe - Career, Lee Seokmin continues to be a disaster, M/M, Radio Hosts BooSeokSoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-03 19:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14002545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trotter/pseuds/Trotter
Summary: Seokmin's acting career took off thanks to two things: turning down Pledis Entertainment, and how pushy his manager was.Once he's recognized in the industry (he has awards! and fans!) he turns his efforts towards his radio show: Andromeda, which he co-hosts with idol group Seventeen's Seungkwan.It's through pure chance that he gets to meet Seungkwan's group member Hoshi, who turns out to be as much of a fan of Seokmin as Seokmin is of him.





	you know i dreamed about you

 “Well _gosh,”_ says Seungkwan, because they aren’t allowed to swear on radio. “Gosh darn heckity-heck.”

Seokmin looks up in amusement. “What seems to be the problem, Seungkwan-ssi?”

“Nothing, nothing,” says Seungkwan. His eyebrows are doing crazy things. “Shall we go in for a commercial real quick, hyung?”

“Good idea,” Seokmin says. “Listeners, don’t go away~~ we’ll be right back after these messages.”

As soon as the ads begin playing, and the production staff descends like a pack of crows. “Seungkwan-ah, are you _sure?”_ one noona asks anxiously. She grabs Seokmin’s latte and throws it back like a shot when Seungkwan nods. “Oh my god. What now?”

“What’s going on?”

“Leeteuk-hyung just texted,” Seungkwan says gravely. “He says he can’t make it. Hyung, _our entire program just got jeopardized.”_

Seokmin blinks. “Ah.”

And Seungkwan’s right, sort of. Back when they were starting out their show– when Seungkwan was just a member in a rookie boy group and Seokmin, a young actor with a few guest appearances under his sleeve—it would have been fine, because Seokmin’s manager was used to filling in as a guest with made-up stories about UFO sightings to make the show interesting. But it was Jaehyun’s first day off in _weeks_ — he was no longer a freewheeling college student and certainly had no time to randomly drop into the studio and make fart noises into the mic.

“This is a dilemma,” Seokmin says, smoking an imaginary pipe and very pointedly _not_ calling Jaehyun.

“Hyung, this is _serious_ ,” Seungkwan wails. “We can’t broadcast _more_ of our freestyle rap, we’ll be taken off air. What do we do?”

The whole studio looks at him, expectantly.

Seokmin sweats.

“Can’t we call one of your members?” he blurts. “I mean, they might not be on your level, but don’t you have members who are good at speaking? At least a little? Ahaha, but,” he adds nervously, “not Jeonghan, please.”

Seungkwan rolls his eyes. “Just because he’s good-looking—”

“You _know_ I do badly with handsome people, Kwan-ah,” Seokmin calls out right away, dismayed and not liking the way Seungkwan is raising his phone to his ear. “I’m serious, I’ll be so boring, you’ll wish—”

“Relax, hyung,” Seungkwan says. “I’m not calling him. Hey, Hoshi-hyung,” he says into his phone, expression changing, tone filling up with aegyo dizzyingly fast. “Hoshi-hyung, Hoshi-hyung, remember when I covered for you with dance teacher last month? I’m calling that in.”

He listens, eyebrows scrunched attentively. The whole studio breathes out a sigh of relief when he flashes a thumbs-up, his cute face splitting into a grin.

“I’ll see you in five minutes then.”

 

So: instead of Jeonghan, they get Hoshi.

Seokmin relaxes.

Working on a regular basis with Seungkwan has exposed him to most of the ins and outs of Seventeen ( _twelve members three units one team plus Carat,_ Seokmin automatically chants in his own head, _dammit Seungkwan_ ) but he’s not exactly _close_ with any of them. Sometimes their schedules align and he and Kim Mingyu meet on variety shows, and once Jeonghan MC’d a talk show with him (with disastrous results) but honestly, Seungkwan’s the only one he can call his friend in Seventeen.

So when Seungkwan says, “Listeners, for today’s program we will be joined by the top star, the greatest celebrity of our times, Seventeen’s dancing god and aegyo king Hoshi,” Seokmin doesn’t think anything beyond _hope he’s nice._

Hoshi, sitting directly opposite Seokmin, beams. Seokmin thinks that he looks kind of like a dumpling.

“I’m Seventeen’s performance team leader 10:10 Hoshi,” he says with a little bow that knocks his head against his mic. “Thank you for inviting me on your show, Kwannie, Dokyeom-ssi. I’m a big fan.”

“Of the show or of us, Hoshi-ssi?”

Hoshi doesn’t miss a beat.

“Ey, what are you talking about, you know I only have eyes for you, Seungkwannie.” He smiles at Seokmin, and says, “I’m watching _The Interview_ a lot as well. I think it’s Dokyeom-ssi’s best drama to date.”

His eyes really _do_ go 10:10.

Seokmin, hopelessly flustered, shuffles his papers till they’re all messed up. “That’s really kind of you to say,” he mumbles. “I have a lot to learn, still. Um. One listener has sent in, _waah it’s Hoshi-oppa, I love you.”_

“I love you too,” Hoshi says smoothly. He doesn’t even blink. _Whoa_ , goes a dazed little voice in Seokmin’s head, _idols really are something else_. “Dokyeom-ssi, has anyone told you your voice is really pretty?”

Seokmin kind of boggles at him. “Eh?”

“Of course we get all kinds of compliments about our voices, hyung, what are you saying, we’re professional radio DJs,” Seungkwan says, flapping a hand in the air. “Any more comments, Dokyeom-ssi?”

“JihoonsWife-nim has sent in _Kids, be careful not to get blinded by the visuals in the studio,”_ he snorts. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. When we’re not doing visual broadcasts we kind of let ourselves go, don’t we?”

“Are you saying I’m not pretty, DK-ssi?” Hoshi flutters his eyes at him sweetly and Seokmin kind of spasms.

“You’re really pretty! Um, sunbaenim. Hyung?” he tries hopefully, and grins when Hoshi shoots him with finger guns. “Listeners, you can’t see us, but Hoshi-hyung looks really cute in person, so I will enjoy his visuals in your place.”

Hoshi makes a big heart at him with both arms and Seokmin bursts out laughing.

“Amazing,” Seungkwan observes drily. “So the theme of the show today is childhood dreams, so listeners, please send in any interesting episodes from your childhood, or any moment in the present that makes you think _ah, I’m really not a child anymore._ Being in Seventeen, as you know, since we have a lot of members who are older than me I feel as if I get to stay as a child for longer than the others. It must be different for the leaders, right, Hoshi-hyung?”

“Ah, it is a little different, Kwan-ah,” Hoshi says, twisting blunt, capable-looking fingers in his hoodie. Seokmin really likes how he looks when he’s thoughtful. His eyes kind of flicker all around and his mouth pushes into a cute pout.  “And rather than saying the hyungs are more responsible, it’s more like we’re all taking turns when the time comes. For an example, when you’re on radio I keep thinking _ah, Seungkwan-ah is so cool and mature.”_

“He becomes the hyung,” Seokmin agrees. “You’re good at MC-ing, so you naturally lead us. I’ve always thought that too. Listeners, our Seungkwannie is very cool, don’t you think?”

Seungkwan, Seokmin’s favorite pretty dongsaeng, makes some happy modest noises. “But what about our DK-hyung? He’s the maknae of the cast of _The Interview,_ so the noonas and hyungs must take care of you well.”

“Ah, they really do, but these days I’m actually feeling my age, Kwannie,” Seokmin says with a sigh. “I talk to myself a lot, you know? Like when I’m at the convenience store I don’t even know I’m doing it, but I’m saying stuff like, _ah Lucky Ramen is on sale, I’m running low, I should get some, what else what else._ Seriously,” he tells a giggling Seungkwan and Hoshi. “I’ve been told that’s the behavior of grandpas.”

Hoshi lights up. “I do that too! All the time.”

“Yes, this is Seventeen’s Boo Seungkwan, joined by two old-timers,” Seungkwan announces in his best MC voice.

“Grandpa?” Hoshi says, in a thin, reedy voice that makes Seokmin choke with laughter. “When did our daughter-in-law get so mouthy?”

“I always told our son not to go for the loud ones,” Seokmin rasps in reply, and Hoshi’s eyes scrunch up so hard they disappear. It’s cute, he’s so _cute_. “Grandma, shall we go to the convenience store together to buy ramen?”

“Aigoo, grandpa I remember our young days when we ate all the ramen in the world,” Hoshi says. “Let’s go and renew our love.”

Seokmin can’t stop grinning. “Listeners, did you like mine and Hoshi-hyung’s sudden skit? It was interesting, right? As expected, the charms of the performance team leader are no joke.”

“I’m sure they’re wondering what they just listened to,” Seungkwan agrees. “Look, the comments are all going _wah daebak._ Park Naeyeon-nim is saying, _kekeke SeokSoon chemistry of an old married couple.”_

“SeokSoon?” Hoshi taps his pen on the table a few times before he gets it. “Ah, since my name is Soonyoung.”

“Ah,” Seokmin says, realizing. “And I’m Seokmin, so we’re SeokSoon. Thanks, listeners. We will be doing a collab soon.”

 _“Yeah, collaboration_ ,” Hoshi says in English. “Expect it, beloved fans. But I have to be a guest on this show again for that to happen.”

“Of course,” Seokmin says without even having to think about it. “Hoshi-hyung’s our new permanent guest, right, Kwannie?”

Seungkwan just smiles at them, not dongsaeng-like at all. Seokmin gets the feeling he knows something that they don’t.

“’Course, hyung,” he says with an imperious little shrug. “It would be a shame to keep you two apart.”

 

Jaehyun is smug.

“Stop it,” Seokmin mutters he smirks at him above their steak, eyes glinting. “Aish, seriously. Why are you being like this?”

Jaehyun stuffs his mouth too full to speak. “Mmph?”

“Stop eating when I ask you to explain yourself,” Seokmin protests, snatching his fork away. “Why are you smiling? I won’t pay for anything until you tell me.”

Jaehyun calmly chews and swallows. “But it’s your treat,” he says. He sips on his glass of water, as graceful as a cat. “I’m not the one who hit big through my serial drama.”

“What are you talking about, you’re not an actor,” Seokmin says, nonplussed.

“But if I was, I’d treat my best friend to meat every day.”

“Better call Winwinie and tell him that, then,” says Seokmin.

“Min-ah, don’t be like that,” Jaehyun makes sad eyes at him. “Haven’t I stood by you all these long, embarrassing years?”

Seokmin narrows his eyes at him. It’s impossible to tell what Jaehyun’s ever thinking because this is what he’s like, dimples and soft voice and fairy-pale skin hiding the terrible personality within. The first day Seokmin had met him in elementary school, he’d made up his mind to keep away from the pretty, studious little boy that giggled every time Seokmin said something that he thought was pretty clever.

That plan backfired pretty bad on him.

“This is why I don’t trust you,” he whines. “You’re up to something weird, I can tell.”

“Nothing weird, I promise,” Jaehyun says, purposely using his walked-out-of-a-manhwa voice. “I’m just happy you’re having a good time at your radio show.”

Seokmin narrows his eyes at him. “This is about Hoshi-hyung,” he guesses. “Yah, stop eating and answer my question!”

“I wasn’t specifically referring to anything,” Jaehyun says, patting his mouth with his napkin with a fastidiousness he’s never shown in their shared dorm life. “But now that _you_ brought it up, Hoshi really does seem nice.”

Seokmin gives up and starts digging in to his own food. “He is!” he says, mouth full. “He’s super good at talking, if you give him even a tiny reaction he gets really into it. You should have been there, Jaehyunnie. He’s really cute. His eyes go like this when he smiles,” Seokmin puts down his cutlery and demonstrates with his fingers. “So cute.”

Jaehyun hm’s.

His studied nonchalance is suspicious as hell, but Seokmin gets distracted by his phone lighting up with a message:

**Kwon Hoshi Seventeen  
** _Carats are asking for the selca we took today! Our Dokyeom-Dokyeom is okay if I post it on my SNS, right? (ノ*゜▽゜*)_

“Ah, even the way he texts is just,” Seokmin lets out a happy sigh and texts back. He can’t stop smiling even when he goes back to his steak; Seventeen’s Hoshi is just that kind of person.

Out of nowhere, Jaehyun says,

“Your type, then?”

And bursts out laughing when Seokmin freezes.

“You really are an idiot,” Jaehyun says fondly, watching Seokmin slowly begin to flush crimson. “How come _I_ can tell when you have a crush better than you?”

Seokmin presses his hands to his burning-hot cheeks and groans in protest. He’s too embarrassed for words.

“Thirteen years,” Jaehyun says with an air of worldly wisdom. “Thirteen years I’ve known you, and your type hasn’t changed _one bit._ Aren’t men supposed to mature with age? What’s with this elementary school level obsession with cute things?”

“I ought to fire you,” Seokmin mumbles into his hands.

Jaehyun laughs at his pain. “Good luck getting my mom to make you chicken every weekend if you put me out of a job.”

Seokmin ignores this idle threat (Jaehyun’s mother _loves_ him) and says, “Take it back then.”

Something flickers across Jaehyun’s eyes. For a beat he actually looks surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not just because Hoshi-hyung is cute,” Seokmin says. He looks straight at Jaehyun because he wants his best friend to get it, no matter how embarrassing it is to say out loud. “He’s…god, Jaehyunnie, he’s like champagne when it bubbles out of the bottle, just crazy energetic and fun to be around, you know? I’ve never—I’ve never met anyone like him.”

Jaehyun’s expression has melted into something soft and affectionate over the course of Seokmin’s bumbling confession.

“I get it, Min-ah,” he says. “I hope I get to meet him soon.”

Seokmin smiles back at him and refocuses on eating.

“I can’t wait to tell him about that time you played a slug in our school play,” Jaehyun adds.

Seokmin chokes on his steak.

 

Luckily, Jaehyun isn’t there the next time Seokmin meets Hoshi. Mostly because they meet on accident.

Comeback season is approaching for Hoshi and Seokmin has to stay in shape for his new character, so they keep sending plaintive texts back and forth about all the delicious food they want to eat. One day, they both promise, they’re going to that new BBQ restaurant that opened up in Itaewon and getting so fat they get fired. Until then, Seokmin’s on a diet of no grease and no Soonyoung.

Filming for his new drama is going well, which is something. Seokmin’s the lead, which he’s tentatively glad about (Soonyoung is _ecstatic_ when he finds out) and he plays a troubled cellist in love with a blind teacher. On the director’s orders, he and Jaehyun spend most of their sparse free time at cello classes. Seokmin’s surprised to find that he’s good at it.

 **Kwon Hoshi Seventeen**  
_It’s probably because you have really nice fingers, Seoku!  
Play for hyung sometime? ೭੧(❛▿❛✿)੭೨_

“Tell Hoshi I say hi,” Jaehyun says when he catches Seokmin blushing at his phone. Seokmin whines in his general direction.

 **Me**  
_Sure I will! Will you dance for me too, hyung? I really really want to  
see Seventeen’s performance leader in action! Fighting!_

 

Andromeda is the only time they get to see each other in person, just for two hours every Sunday morning. It’s easy as breathing to fall into a rhythm of flirting and joking with him, even easier than it was with Seungkwan. In his head, Seokmin thinks of them as a pair of bells, ringing together in resonance. It’s one of the happiest thoughts he’s had.

As soon as the broadcast is over, though, they rush out; Seventeen is packed with practices and variety schedules and Hoshi and Seungkwan, as the variety line, look more and more exhausted with each passing week. On the worst days only one of them makes it to the studio while the other rests; in those days they bring Kim Mingyu in tow, who’s fun in his own sweet-clumsy way.

Though he has known Seungkwan for longer and Mingyu is his same-age friend, he’s the closest to Soonyoung. They send voice messages when they’re too tired to type, or Seokmin’s fingers hurt too much; and that’s how he falls asleep, with Hoshi’s voice in his ears and his bright grin etched inside his mind’s eye.

 

“You need a break, Kyeom-ah,” says Ryeowook, one of the cast member hyungs from _The Interview_ that Seokmin’s particularly close to _._ He’s driving slowly through the nighttime streets of Seoul, his hand tapping out the beat of the song on the radio. When Jaehyun has to leave early for meetings, Ryeowook’s the one who drops Seokmin home from the set. “Your fingers are bruised and even the makeup staff is complaining about the bags under your eyes.”

“I’m okay, hyung,” Seokmin says. In the back of his mind he recalculates the days to Seventeen’s comeback. On his phone he types:

**Me  
** _Ryeowookie-hyung is dropping me home. Did you eat, Hoshi-hyung?_

The reply comes lightning-fast.

 **Kwon Hoshi Seventeen**  
_Ah, as expected of Ryeowook-sunbaenim, he takes care of the maknae! (●_ _♡∀♡)_  
I ate ramen by the convenience store by Han River  
It was so good ( _✿_ _♥_ _‿♥)_

**Me  
** _By yourself?_

**Kwon Hoshi Seventeen**  
_Yeah, Woozi-yah’s cooped up in the studio by himself  
and the rest of the members ate earlier without me._

“Girlfriend?” Ryeowook asks, catching Seokmin’s frown.  “Or boyfriend,” he adds with a smile, because Ryeowookie-hyung is awesome like that.

Seokmin shakes his head no, trying to look unsuspicious. “No, hyung, it’s one of my friends from the idol group Seventeen. Do you know them? They’re having a comeback soon.”

Ryeowook smiles indulgently. “I’m more of a Super Junior man myself.”

Seokmin lights up. “It’s basically the same thing! Hyung, they have the same number of members and—”

“And?”

Seokmin turns to him breathlessly. “Hyung, do you mind dropping me here? At the next stoplight maybe?”

“Here?” Ryeowook repeats, looking troubled. “Kyeommie, it’s late and you have a shoot early tomorrow morning, this is hardly the time for you to be walking back home.”

“Please, hyung?” Seokmin presses. “I saw my friend. At least I thought I did.”

Miraculously, it _is_ Soonyoung that he’s seen; he’s bundled up in an oversized hoodie, which was why Seokmin couldn’t tell for sure. Seokmin says goodbye to Ryeowook and tumbles out of his car excitedly and presents himself, open-armed and grinning, to Soonyoung.

Soonyoung doesn’t think twice before stepping into his arms. Seokmin goes with the flow and gives him a big hug, burying his nose in slightly sweaty hair. Now that he’s seen him, Seokmin realizes how much he’s been missing Soonyoung all this time. A tiny grapefruit of pressure loosens from his chest at the contact. 

“You look super tired,” Soonyoung observes, tracing the dark circles under Seokmin’s eyes.

Seokmin laughs a little. “We match,” he says. He links his arm comfortably around Soonyoung’s shoulders, and experiences a hot thrill of delight when Soonyoung melts into the curve of his elbow. “But hyung, wow, you didn’t tell me you dyed your hair.”

Soonyoung raises his hand to his hair. “Does it suit me?”

Seeing how hesitant he is, Seokmin trips over his words in his hurry to get them out. “It suits you really well! You’re really fair so the impact is no joke.” A grin splits his face when Hoshi side-eyes him. “I’m serious, hyung. You look so good.”

This makes Soonyoung duck his head, the tips of his ears going red. _So cute,_ runs a loop inside Seokmin’s head. _He’s so cute._

“Hyung, aren’t you worried you’ll get recognized?”

“This late?” Hoshi snickers. It’s more subdued than his huge HAH-HA laugh that he laughs when he’s excited. Seokmin watches him a little out of the corner of his eye. Soonyoung’s shoulders are hunched weirdly and he keeps rubbing his eye, in a tired way. Definitely not in good condition, then.

Seokmin hums. “Hyung, how about that boxing class?”

Soonyoung frowns a little before realization dawns across his sad-tired expression. “Oh yeah! We definitely should go. Real men know how to box.”

“Hey, maybe you can use boxing moves in Seventeen’s next choreo!” Seokmin demonstrates a sidestep, and launches into an entire routine. Thankfully there’s not a lot of people on the roads this late; when Seokmin overbalances and nearly breaks his neck, only Soonyoung’s there to laugh his ass off at him.

“Didn’t you get a lot of ideas from that, hyung?” Seokmin asks once Hoshi has helped him upright. He bounces on the heels of his feet. “Or this, or this.”

He sings the first SHINEe song that comes to mind and dances along, delighted when Soonyoung joins in. His face lights up with his familiar bright energy and even when he’s goofing off, his moves are razor-sharp and precise.

“Ah, this hyung is pretty good,” Seokmin gasps once he’s out of breath. He’s sweaty and tired but it feels like he’s shed a month’s worth of stress. “We should have another showdown sometime. Your title as the dancing machine is about to end, Kwon Hoshi!”

“Bring it on,” Soonyoung roars back. “HAH-HA! You’re a thousand years too early to defeat me!”

Watching him laugh makes Seokmin’s chest _ache_ with affection. _There you are,_ he thinks. Being energetic and bright really did suit Soonyoung best. _Welcome back._

“I’m stopping here,” he says. “It’s so dark I got confused, but we actually passed my house.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widen. “Let’s go back then!”

Seokmin shakes his head. “Nah, hyung, it’s just a few feet. You should go to the agency, you probably have to practice more before you sleep right?”

For a moment, Soonyoung stares at him. He’s standing just within range of a streetlight, so Seokmin can pick out the smallest details of his expression as clear as if it was daytime. He feels as if he’s been laid bare by that look.

Finally, Soonyoung says in the softest of voices, “You’re so kind, it’d be so easy to get used to depending on you, Seokminnie.”

“I’m not kind,” Seokmin rasps. “Just selfish.”

Soonyoung smiles and shakes his head. He points a finger at Seokmin, half-serious, half-joking.

“That’s exactly what a kind person would want me to think,” he says. “Good night, Seokminnie. Rest well. I don’t want to see my happy virus getting sick.”

 

Eventually, Soonyoung and Jaehyun _do_ meet. It was only a matter of time.

Seventeen’s comeback activities start winding down and one lunch time, by chance, Seokmin had been filming in the same neighborhood as the music program Seventeen were attending. Seungkwan had declined his invitation with so much throat-clearing that there was no doubt that he knew about Seokmin’s crush, but sent them off wishing his hyungs to have fun together. In the background, Jeonghan yelled something about dates and handholding before he was quickly shushed. 

Seokmin gets a sinking feeling in his stomach when they meet and Hoshi begins blinking rapidly, not an uncommon reaction to first contact with flowerboy-visual Jaehyun.

“Wow,” he says as soon as they’re introduced. “It’s _insane_ that you’re part of the staff. Want to audition for Pledis? I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Actually I was scouted before,” says Jaehyun. _Three times,_ Seokmin adds mentally. It was a real pain going anywhere with Jaehyun when they were teenagers. “But thank you for the offer, Hoshi-hyung. Ah, is it okay if I call you hyung? It’s just that Seoku talks so much about—”

“Haha, that’s funny,” Seokmin says loudly. Hoshi gives a huge bark of a laugh that slides naturally into giggles when Seokmin nudges Jaehyun back into the car as violently as he can without arousing suspicion. “It’s a good thing my schedule is over for today so you can take the rest of the day off, right, Jaehyun-ah?”

“Haha, that’s funny,” Jaehyun deadpans back. “Who do you think talks to directors and production staff when you’re off having fun with idols? Ah, no offense, Hoshi-hyung. Our Seoku is just out of touch with reality. Please take care of him.”

“Goodbye, Jaehyun-ah,” Seokmin says, gesturing frantically to the driver.

“Hoshi-hyung, you _have_ to hear about that time Seoku—” Jaehyun is saying as the car takes off. He waves through the window with a bright smile.

Seokmin turns back to Hoshi, his whole face burning.

“Please ignore him, hyung, he says weird things all the time. You really wouldn’t want him in Pledis.”

Soonyoung wipes his eyes, his giggles still catching on his breath. “Ah, your facial expressions are really something else, Kyeommie. You know that saying, _his eyes tell a story_? Well, your eyebrows tell a story. Shall we go in?”

The restaurant they chose is a family-owned Chinese place because Seokmin had been craving Wenchang chicken. As they walk to their table, Seokmin admits, “My eyebrows are what really impress people, I think. Acting is done from the eyebrows.”

“Ey, what nonsense,” Hoshi says easily. He taps his chest with a fist, imitating Seokmin’s cheesiest offscreen line. “Acting is done from the heart.”

Seokmin’s so surprised at the reference he briefly forgets how to speak. “Soonyoungie-hyung, you _are_ a fan.”

Soonyoung colors. When he’s blushing, even the very tips of his ears go pink, making Seokmin think of bunnies. “I already said I was,” he says, all bluster. “Ask me anything about your acting career, go on.”

 “My _acting career?”_ Seokmin repeats, feeling faint with disbelief. When Seokmin called him out as a fan, he’d meant of _The Interview._ “Hyung, you’re _my_ fan?”

 Soonyoung looks caught. Seokmin honestly can’t help being so surprised; he’s had people tell him that he watched _The Interview_ for him, not the other way around, but this is _Hoshi_.

“Hyung,” he says in awe. “Hyung, you’re a _celebrity,_ how can you be a fan? You dance like nothing I’ve ever seen and your voice is so pretty and you have so many _fans_ and—” Seokmin covers his mouth to stop the words from leaking.

Soonyoung looks at him sharply. “You watched me in our videos?”

Seokmin nods without thinking. “And a few fancams,” he says from behind his fingers, and then goes red all over again when he realizes what he’s just admitted.

Soonyoung meets his eyes and they both look away immediately, suddenly shy.

It’s a good thing that the owner auntie comes up to them right then to take their orders. Seokmin prides himself on not being easy to fluster, but he can’t seem to cool down or stop fumbling with the printed menu card.

“So,” says Soonyoung, as soon as she’s gone. He seems to have the same mantra of _don’t make it awkward, don’t make it awkward_ running in his head. “Since you know my favorite drama, what’s your favorite Seventeen song?”

“Don’t Want to Cry,” Seokmin says enthusiastically. He actually does love Seventeen; even if he and Seungkwan didn’t do the show together he thinks he would have listened to all their songs. “I really love hyung’s part in it, at the beginning.”

 _“I loved you so much, where’d you go?”_ Soonyoung sings, his eyes smiley. They widen when Seokmin begins harmonizing the next line. _“Did you leave because you don’t like me anymore?”_

Their singing is quiet, to reflect the surroundings and the mood of the song. The restaurant is small enough that they’re the only customers in their section, so they’re not really disturbing anyone. Seokmin adlibs on the lyrics he doesn’t know and Soonyoung does a simplified, hands-and-face only version of the choreo.

Rather than having fun, Seokmin finds that he’s…moved. A sense of yearning that he can’t name blooms and unfurls until it fills his whole ribcage. Like something in his heart is coming alive as Soonyoung catches his eye and sings.

Soonyoung moves smoothly on to Miracles in December and then another song and another, until their food is being stacked in front of them in steaming, delicious-smelling plates.

“Ah, I haven’t sung like that with anyone in a long time,” Soonyoung says, snapping his chopsticks apart. His eyes on Seokmin’s are sincere, intense. If this were a show a PD would have called cut and given them some time to cool down from the emotional high of the scene. “You have a really great voice, Seokmin-ah.”

“I actually nearly auditioned for Pledis myself,” Seokmin confesses in a rush. He feels reckless and raw, like Soonyoung has laid him bare. He wants to offer up his secrets. “I even got accepted. But then on the same day I got street-casted for a drama and I’ve always wanted to be a musical actor, so I went with that instead.”

Soonyoung takes an audible breath. “Wow. That’s…”

He blinks very fast.

A tear falls down his cheeks. Then another. And another.

“That’s amazing,” Soonyoung says. He doesn’t seem to even _know_ he’s crying. He’s smiling too, through his sniffles. “It’s amazing how these things work out.”

“Hyung, don’t cry,” Seokmin says desperately. He dabs at Soonyoung’s eyes with his shirtsleeve as delicately as he can. He adds with a strangled half-laugh, “Look, you’re getting your food all salty. Hyung, what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just, it’s stupid,” Soonyoung says, letting himself be dabbed at while he gazes on at Seokmin, “It’s driving me crazy, you know? I can’t stop thinking about having you with me when things got bad. And training! We could have trained together. Trainee life is like, _inherently_ unhappy, but you’re like this big ball of sunshine—having you with me would have changed everything.”

As he describes it, the weight of their unshared history presses down on Seokmin as well. Instead of making him sad, it gives him a rush of determination he’s never felt before.

Seokmin draws his hands away from Soonyoung’s face. He says, “Soonyoungie-hyung,” and when Soonyoung makes a questioning noise, Seokmin kisses him.

Jaehyun always calls him impulsive, but it’s just that Seokmin doesn’t believe in doing things halfway. If he has a crush on a friend he’ll confess, even if it scares him half to death, because it’s dishonest to pretend. There’s nothing dishonest about a kiss; Seokmin cups Soonyoung’s face with his hands and licks into his mouth, trying to get his feelings across. Soonyoung tastes of salt and fleeting sweetness, like he’d eaten something sugary earlier. He’s an unbelievably good kisser; his hands, when they come to wrap around Seokmin’s wrists, are firm and warm.

They part for breath. Seokmin realizes that he’s half-standing from his chair and sits down again, blushing. He glances at Soonyoung through his lashes nervously.

“Well?”

Soonyoung blinks. His eyes gradually focus out of their sensuous haze, and begin crinkling into the most joyful expression Seokmin has seen from him yet.

“Do you do that to all the boys who cry over you?”

“No,” Seokmin says boldly. “Just you, hyung.”

“So that means I don’t have to cry to get you to kiss me again?”

Seokmin begins to laugh, charmed endlessly by him. “No, but asking with aegyo might help.”

He laughs harder when Soonyoung immediately does a _buing-buing!_

“Guess there’s no helping it, then,” Seokmin says, and they’re both still smiling wide when he leans over and kisses Soonyoung again.

 

“Nobody saw this coming,” says Seungkwan, when Seokmin and Soonyoung make faces at each other and laughingly kiss the expressions away before the show begins. His tone is bone-dry. “Absolutely nobody.”

“Did you eat?” Seokmin says, ignoring his commentary. “That’s no good, you’ve gotta eat to grow, Kwan-ah.” He stuffs an entire croissant in his dongsaeng’s mouth.

“Your shirt today is very pretty, Seokminnie,” Soonyoung says. “It brings out your eyes.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Seokmin beams at him. “Guys, isn’t Hoshi-hyung looking very manly today?”

“Very manly,” giggle the noonas in agreement. Jaehyun and Seungkwan just groan, expressively.

“Are you coming over later? My mom sent some seafood stew, it’s really good,” Seokmin tries hopefully.

“Sure, let’s go after your shoot is over.”

“How are you this domestic already,” Seungkwan says, muffled through a mouthful of croissant. “You’ve only been going out like a week. You haven’t even _known_ each other for more than a few months. _Don’t do the skit._ ”

It’s too late. Soonyoung is already beaming at Seokmin, wriggling his eyebrows.  “Aigoo, grandpa,” he croons. “Hear that? Even ten years only feels like a day with you.”

“Ah, grandma, you know my hearing isn’t what it used to be,” Seokmin says. “Shouldn’t have smoked all those cigarettes when I was young. I smoked them from my ears,” he explains, when Seungkwan opens his mouth to correct him. “That’s how all the cool young people did it back in our time.”

“I quit,” says Jaehyun.

“Imagine what your mother would say,” Soonyoung fires back. “We won’t be able to show our faces to her again if Seoku puts you out of a job.”

Seokmin high fives him over their mic’s.

“I feel like I’ve made a terrible mistake,” Seungkwan says, but he’s smiling, not even trying particularly hard to hide his affection. “There’s no denying that I’m to blame for this.”

Seokmin thinks about this. Sometimes he wants to go back and tell himself not to give up on the idol thing; he thinks about spending all those wretched teenage years with Hoshi by his side.

His grip on Soonyoung’s hand tightens.

“Nah,” he says. His voice rings out clear and sure. “I think we were meant to meet.” 

**Author's Note:**

> my head, these past few days without stopping: booseoksoonbooseoksoonbooseok--
> 
> title is a lyric from The National's Slow Show because I ran out of Seventeen lyrics :( also it's sad how jaehyun features more on my Seventeen fics than he does on my NCT ones :/ hmm. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Now on twitter agonizing over DK: @fightme_dk


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